Books like Desert Solitaire
12 books with a reading profile close to Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey. Deep and contemplative; a moderate read.
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1
Three Daughters of Eve
by Elif Shafak
philosophy, narrative
Peri is an Istanbul housewife in her thirties, married with a child, who is at a dinner party when a mugger takes her bag and she chases him.
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2
The Dharma Bums
by Jack Kerouac
philosophy, narrative
Ray Smith, a fictionalized version of Kerouac, navigates the contrast between urban jazz parties and the solitude of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
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3
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Set in a luxury Parisian apartment building, the story follows Renée Michel, a fifty-four-year-old concierge who hides her deep knowledge of Kant, Tolstoy, and art behind a facade of working-class dullness.
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4
The Solitaire Mystery
Also deep · philosophy, narrative
Hans Thomas travels with his father from Norway to Greece to find his long-lost mother.
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5
Women Talking
by Miriam Toews
Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Based on real events in the Manitoba Colony in Bolivia, this novel centers on eight Mennonite women meeting secretly in a hayloft.
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6
The Children Act
by Ian McEwan
Also deep · philosophy, narrative
High Court judge Fiona Maye presides over the Family Division in London, where she adjudicates cases involving medical ethics and religious freedom.
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7
The Witch of Portobello
by Paulo Coelho
philosophy, narrative
Athena is a woman born in Romania to a Roma mother, adopted as a baby by a Lebanese couple, and raised partly in Beirut and later in London.
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8
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Annie Dillard uses her home in Virginia’s Roanoke Valley as an observatory to document the biological mechanics of the natural world.
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9
Daytripper
by Fábio Moon
Also contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Brás de Oliva Domingos writes obituaries for a Brazilian newspaper while living in the shadow of his famous novelist father.
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10
The Book of Form and Emptiness
by Ruth Ozeki
Also deep and contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Following the sudden death of his father, fourteen-year-old Benny Oh begins to hear the voices of inanimate objects.
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11
The Zahir
by Paulo Coelho
philosophy, narrative
Esther, a war correspondent, is married to a celebrated novelist, the narrator, who is living comfortably in Paris.
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12
Sweet Bean Paste
Also contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Sentaro runs a tiny dorayaki shop, selling pancakes filled with sweet bean paste, and he is stuck in a life he did not choose, having served a prison sentence.
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